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Republicans' main issue of contention with Sebelius is the fact that she is not against abortion. She has been criticized for accepting campaign contributions from a doctor who performed abortions and has been described by some as having a "pro-abortion" stance. Last week she vetoed a bill that would increase restrictions on late-term abortions, but defended her position by saying:
"The provisions in this bill that would allow for the criminal prosecution of a physician intending to comply with the law will lead to the intimidation of health care providers and reduce access to comprehensive health care for women, even when it is necessary to preserve their lives and health. While I agree that we should try to reduce the number of abortions, it cannot be at the increased risk to the life or health of women."
According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, she is "expected to be confirmed" tomorrow.
Source(s):
The Caucus (NYT): http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sebelius-confirmation-for-hhs...
The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124086251032060529.html
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http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/gop-wont-stop-filibuster-of-sebelius.html
"As you know, Senate Republicans have been filibustering Sebelius over lingering questions about her views on late-term abortions and some campaign contributions she received from an abortion doctor. Late last week, the Senate Dem leadership announced that in the face of GOP opposition, they had agreed with Republicans to bring Sebelius’ confirmation to the floor for a vote tomorrow that would indeed require the 60 votes."
Source(s):
http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/gop-wont-stop-filibuster-of-sebelius.htm...
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Abortion is an issue relevant to the position of Health Secretary, and it's highly emotionally charged, which makes it a natural choice for the Republicans, in their attempts to frustrate her nomination. If there was no "controversy" surrounding that particular one, the GOP would come up with something else, for the reasons given above.
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"Republican critics have cited campaign contributions Ms. Sebelius received from a Kansas doctor who performs abortions. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele last week called on President Barack Obama to withdraw her nomination unless she answered more questions about the issue."
Yes this is pitiful. However, the Republicans are in a bind. Their Economic Republicans have been discredited by the financial disaster under Bush, the Defense Republicans are even worse off because we have been unable to win the two wars they felt obliged to wage, and so the Social Conservative Republicans are desperately needed by the party. But they have been put off the last few years because the Republicans took somewhat moderate stands (at least compared to what their religious wing wanted) in order to win elections. So this is a way to play to the Social Conservatives, but they don't have the votes and if there is an epidemic while the Republicans are filibustering the Health Secretary there will be another huge backlash against the Republicans.
Liberal papers are already picking up on this:
"We face a potential swine flu pandemic, and we do not have the people in place in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that we need. Why not? The Republicans are blocking confirmation of Obama's nominee, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Why are they blocking this nomination? Because Gov. Sebelius won't approve Kansas Republican bills to block abortion even if the abortion will save the mother's life. They say she is "an enemy of the unborn," because she thinks doctors should be able to save the mother's life." - Seeing the Forest for the Trees site
Source(s):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124086251032060529.html
http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2009/04/swine_flu_repub.htm
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It seems that the opposition is coming because Sebelius is more strongly pro-choice than unusual.
"Sebelius' support for abortion is so far off the charts that she has been publicly criticized by the last three archbishops of Kansas City," –Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/sebelius.abortion.fight/index.html
There is also her association with Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who is apparently outspoken in his support of elective late-term abortions, i.e. when there is no threat to the mother or child. Tiller seems to be a rather polarizing figure in the abortion debate, apparently going to trial recently for charges that he circumvented Kansas laws governing the administration of late-term abortions. It’s probably not helping Sebelius much that she underreported the amount of campaign contributions received from Dr. Tiller.
The story goes deeper, but it seems that the main point of opposition is that Sebelius is not merely a pro-choice advocate but “the most pro-abortion governor in the country.” The issues with her underreporting campaign contributions likely isn’t winning her any favor in the current political climate either, after the tax problems of Geithner and Dasche, etc.
Source(s):
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/sebelius.abortion.fight/index.html
http://www.drtiller.com/elect.html
http://www.lifenews.com/state3896.html
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/550500.aspx
http://kansasmeadowlark.com/2009/04/11/gov-sebelius-12450-response-to-senat...
http://www.cwalac.org/article_842.shtml
http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/sebelius-not-telling-the-truth-abou...
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Source(s):
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/03/tax-problems-fo.html
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/052908/sta_284033344.shtml
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/050108/sta_274070384.shtml
http://hotair.cachefly.net/images/2008-09/sibelius.htm
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/09/17/ap-sanitizes-sebelius-ra...
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Source(s):
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/28/senate-confirms-low-balling-hs-secreta...
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Clot...
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Answered Question
M$2
April 28, 2009 04:14 AM
Why is the Obama nominee for Health Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, being filibustered?
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| April 28, 2009 04:40 AM |
"The provisions in this bill that would allow for the criminal prosecution of a physician intending to comply with the law will lead to the intimidation of health care providers and reduce access to comprehensive health care for women, even when it is necessary to preserve their lives and health. While I agree that we should try to reduce the number of abortions, it cannot be at the increased risk to the life or health of women."
According to an article in today's Wall Street Journal, she is "expected to be confirmed" tomorrow.
Source(s):
The Caucus (NYT): http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sebelius-confirmation-for-hhs...
The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124086251032060529.html
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Other Answers (6)
April 28, 2009 04:27 AM
As usual it is all about abortion. From; http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/gop-wont-stop-filibuster-of-sebelius.html
"As you know, Senate Republicans have been filibustering Sebelius over lingering questions about her views on late-term abortions and some campaign contributions she received from an abortion doctor. Late last week, the Senate Dem leadership announced that in the face of GOP opposition, they had agreed with Republicans to bring Sebelius’ confirmation to the floor for a vote tomorrow that would indeed require the 60 votes."
Source(s):
http://www.americablog.com/2009/04/gop-wont-stop-filibuster-of-sebelius.htm...
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April 28, 2009 04:29 AM
So, she received campaign money from a doctor who performs abortions? Is that illegal in the USA?
There has to be another reason, seems like an important position to be holding up right now for something so trivial
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There has to be another reason, seems like an important position to be holding up right now for something so trivial
April 28, 2009 06:09 AM
"There has to be another reason, seems like an important position to be holding up right now for something so trivial."
I'm sorry, but I burst out laughing when I read your comment. So you don't think that it is likely that some Senator is being trivial?
Hope springs eternal.
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I'm sorry, but I burst out laughing when I read your comment. So you don't think that it is likely that some Senator is being trivial?
Hope springs eternal.
April 28, 2009 12:12 PM
Ah yes. The "trivial" issue of whether doctors should be required to break the Hippocratic oath and kill the unborn child of a woman who chose to have sex with a man she didn't intend to raise children with, rather than give the baby to the thousands of adoptive parents on waiting lists. It's a shame the woman didn't exercise her right to choose before conception.
Would you call it trivial if the filibuster because Sebelius was against same sex marriage or thought global warming was a hoax? In those cases, no one is being forced to kill. We all have moral beliefs. Don't trivialize mine.
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Would you call it trivial if the filibuster because Sebelius was against same sex marriage or thought global warming was a hoax? In those cases, no one is being forced to kill. We all have moral beliefs. Don't trivialize mine.
April 28, 2009 01:04 PM
All the points that srgothard raises are, of course, highly debatable in themselves. But, what makes it trivial is that Governor Sibelius did not perform, or even legalize, abortions. She only accepted a campaign contribution apparently from a doctor on the pro-abortion side of the debate. It would also be trivial if she were against same sex marriage; but, if she was a global warming skeptic she would not be suitable for a post like this because the person in the office needs to be able to properly assess scientific knowledge.
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April 28, 2009 01:19 PM
Abortion is not trivial at all in the US. It's a very charged issue exacerbated by the fact that as usual the opposing parts talk AT each other and not TO each other.
The issue is a principal platform in the Republican party, especially as the Christian right becomes a more important base. You can track the boom in the abortion debate back when Reagan decided to appeal to the Christian right.
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The issue is a principal platform in the Republican party, especially as the Christian right becomes a more important base. You can track the boom in the abortion debate back when Reagan decided to appeal to the Christian right.
April 28, 2009 01:48 PM
She also vetoed several restrictions to abortion. http://www.cjonline.com/stories/052908/sta_284033344.shtml
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April 28, 2009 10:48 AM
The problem the GOP has with Kathleen Sebelius is that she's exceptionally able and skilled politician with an impressive track record, somebody who can, not just merely support Obama's policies, but she can actually carry them out to the full extent and with force, i.e. she can make a real difference. Abortion is an issue relevant to the position of Health Secretary, and it's highly emotionally charged, which makes it a natural choice for the Republicans, in their attempts to frustrate her nomination. If there was no "controversy" surrounding that particular one, the GOP would come up with something else, for the reasons given above.
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April 28, 2009 04:11 PM
Gov Sebelius was in my local newspaper today. The article is a big plus for me, if she ever runs for anything in an election that I can vote in:
http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2009/04/obama_cabinet_nominee_kathleen.html
http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2009/04/medium_kathleen%20sebelius.jpg
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http://blog.nola.com/keithspera/2009/04/obama_cabinet_nominee_kathleen.html
April 28, 2009 10:09 PM
She is amazing. I met her at an event. I was very impressed when she spoke.
Report
April 28, 2009 11:42 AM
According to the Wall Street Journal: "Republican critics have cited campaign contributions Ms. Sebelius received from a Kansas doctor who performs abortions. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele last week called on President Barack Obama to withdraw her nomination unless she answered more questions about the issue."
Yes this is pitiful. However, the Republicans are in a bind. Their Economic Republicans have been discredited by the financial disaster under Bush, the Defense Republicans are even worse off because we have been unable to win the two wars they felt obliged to wage, and so the Social Conservative Republicans are desperately needed by the party. But they have been put off the last few years because the Republicans took somewhat moderate stands (at least compared to what their religious wing wanted) in order to win elections. So this is a way to play to the Social Conservatives, but they don't have the votes and if there is an epidemic while the Republicans are filibustering the Health Secretary there will be another huge backlash against the Republicans.
Liberal papers are already picking up on this:
"We face a potential swine flu pandemic, and we do not have the people in place in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that we need. Why not? The Republicans are blocking confirmation of Obama's nominee, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
Why are they blocking this nomination? Because Gov. Sebelius won't approve Kansas Republican bills to block abortion even if the abortion will save the mother's life. They say she is "an enemy of the unborn," because she thinks doctors should be able to save the mother's life." - Seeing the Forest for the Trees site
Source(s):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124086251032060529.html
http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2009/04/swine_flu_repub.htm
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April 28, 2009 11:41 PM
All's well that ends well:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE53R7IH20090428
She was confirmed.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE53R7IH20090428
She was confirmed.
April 29, 2009 05:33 AM
Well, I guess now we know the reason behind the swine flu conspiracy.
Report
April 28, 2009 12:16 PM
It seems that pressure from anti-abortion constituencies is the main reason. But there are lots of pro-choice politicians out there, and Republicans had to expect that whoever Obama nominated would not exactly be a pro-lifer, so what’s the big deal? It seems that the opposition is coming because Sebelius is more strongly pro-choice than unusual.
"Sebelius' support for abortion is so far off the charts that she has been publicly criticized by the last three archbishops of Kansas City," –Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/sebelius.abortion.fight/index.html
There is also her association with Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who is apparently outspoken in his support of elective late-term abortions, i.e. when there is no threat to the mother or child. Tiller seems to be a rather polarizing figure in the abortion debate, apparently going to trial recently for charges that he circumvented Kansas laws governing the administration of late-term abortions. It’s probably not helping Sebelius much that she underreported the amount of campaign contributions received from Dr. Tiller.
The story goes deeper, but it seems that the main point of opposition is that Sebelius is not merely a pro-choice advocate but “the most pro-abortion governor in the country.” The issues with her underreporting campaign contributions likely isn’t winning her any favor in the current political climate either, after the tax problems of Geithner and Dasche, etc.
Source(s):
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/02/sebelius.abortion.fight/index.html
http://www.drtiller.com/elect.html
http://www.lifenews.com/state3896.html
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/550500.aspx
http://kansasmeadowlark.com/2009/04/11/gov-sebelius-12450-response-to-senat...
http://www.cwalac.org/article_842.shtml
http://www.operationrescue.org/archives/sebelius-not-telling-the-truth-abou...
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Reply
April 28, 2009 01:46 PM
I can't speak to why the Republicans are filibustering, but here are a few newsworthy items about Governor Sebelius:- An audit of her and her husband for 2005, 2006, and 2007 revealed that they owed $7k in back taxes due to mistakes (ABC News). It doesn't look good for another Obama nominee to have tax issues.
- She has closely allied herself with an abortion doctor who has been charged with 19 misdemeanors regarding late-term abortions he performed (The Capital Journal).
- Her abortion doctor friend called her the "national pro-choice poster girl." She has vetoed several restrictions to abortions, which led the archbishop for northeast Kansas to ask the Catholic governor to refrain from communion until she publicly changed her stand (ibid).
- Despite her call to reduce dependence on foreign oil, Gov. Sebelius vetoed plans for the expansion of a coal plant in Kansas, even though it did not violate any emissions requirements and the senate had voted for it (The Capital Journal).
- Governor Sebelius implied that republicans did not like President Obama merely because they were racist (First reported in an AP story, (cachefly, Newsbusters).
Source(s):
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2009/03/tax-problems-fo.html
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/052908/sta_284033344.shtml
http://www.cjonline.com/stories/050108/sta_274070384.shtml
http://hotair.cachefly.net/images/2008-09/sibelius.htm
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/09/17/ap-sanitizes-sebelius-ra...
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April 28, 2009 11:57 PM
@dumblonde, after you hit "submit," you can click the "Enable WYSIWYG" link, and a bullets button will appear at the top.
Otherwise, you can type them in in html.
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Otherwise, you can type them in in html.
April 28, 2009 11:32 PM
Why on earth is anybody thinking Secretary Sebellius was being filibustered? She was just confirmed today, after all. The vote on her only just came to the floor today and as filibusters are the talking out of matters on the floor, she was not filibustered in any normal sense.
Source(s):
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/04/28/senate-confirms-low-balling-hs-secreta...
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Clot...
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April 29, 2009 05:43 AM
She was being filibustered in the sense that Republicans just kept delaying the vote on purpose. Doesn't filibuster precisely mean to delay the procedures so that a vote isn't called?
Also, if you notice, this question is a day old. At the time the question was posted, Sebelius had not yet been confirmed.
Anyway there has been talk of filibustering Sebelius for days. It's not that farfetched for someone to use the word in relation to her situation.
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Also, if you notice, this question is a day old. At the time the question was posted, Sebelius had not yet been confirmed.
Anyway there has been talk of filibustering Sebelius for days. It's not that farfetched for someone to use the word in relation to her situation.
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I suggest anyone read the dissenting opinion written by Justice Ginsburg in Gonzalez v. Carhart. It's quite enlightening.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/05-380.ZD.html